Page 61 - Star Wars Insider #194

PATHS OF DESTINY

Rey
The young scavenger Rey
appeared on the galactic
scene as an unprecedented
Force prodigy, astonishingly
Luke Skywalker capable of lightsaber
Yoda’s decision to train Luke Skywalker was mastery and other
fraught with peril, justifi ed only by the extreme advanced abilities even
circumstances enveloping the galaxy. Luke was without any experience
far older than Anakin had been when he was or training. Awakening
accepted as a Padawan, and it had cost the to her potential as heir to
galaxy dearly, so Yoda’s willingness to accept tremendous unexplained
Luke was extraordinarily brave—and deeply power, and desperate for
insighful. The last Padawan of the great guidance to defi ne her own
Yoda became one of the purest and identity, Rey sought out the
greatest the Jedi Order ever knew. legendary Luke Skywalker
as a mentor. Despite
Skywalker’s embittered
rejection of the Jedi ways,
he eventually agreed to
Qui-Gon Jinn teach her three lessons, and
in the process learned a few
The prophecy that a “Chosen home truths about himself.
One” would bring “balance
to the Force” made a lasting
impression on Jedi Knight Qui-Gon
Jinn, and when the Republic began
to falter, the headstrong Jinn became
fi rmly convinced that the time of the
prophecy had come.
Jinn persuaded the Jedi Council
to set aside their age restrictions and
allow him to train Anakin Skywalker, in
the hope that in him they had found
a solution to the galaxy’s intractable Ben Solo /
problems. Trained by Dooku, with Kylo Ren
whom he shared several personality The wildly violent and
traits, Jinn’s natural defi ance and chaotic Kylo Ren was
rebellious individualism went largely governed by no principles
overlooked by the Council, and the but the pursuit of power
results were incalculably catastrophic. and the worship of self.
Loyal to nothing and no
one, Ren murdered his
own father even as he
would go on to murder
his master, Snoke. The
product of a deeply
corrupt age, Ren acceded
by his bloody acts to
Supreme Leadership.
His experience of
a Force-bond with Rey
made him seek her as an
ally, offering to help her
fi nd her full potential—an
offer she recognized as
leading to a dark path.

Supreme
Leader Snoke
A great master of the dark side of
the Force, Snoke apparently had
no mentor to reveal the ancient
teachings and secret insights
of the Sith. With totalitarian
Obi-Wan Kenobi authority and unprecedented
The wise and cautious Obi-Wan Kenobi recognized Anakin military might at his command,
Skywalker’s dangerous potential from the beginning, but inherited his only vulnerability was his
the responsibility of training the boy upon the death of Qui-Gon obsession with the galaxy’s few
Jinn. They became friends and brothers during the Clone Wars, and remaining Force adepts. Fearing
Kenobi took personal responsibility for not recognizing Anakin’s Luke Skywalker and fi endishly
fall to the dark side sooner. Years later, Kenobi imparted a powerful manipulating Rey, Snoke
centering infl uence on a new student, Luke Skywalker, who in turn compassed his own doom by
never wavered from his commitment to the light side of the Force. cultivating Kylo Ren.

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